Encore Club Noon $700 Guarantee (5,500 chips, including bonus)

I don’t know what I was thinking here. I was in seat 6 and called a raise with Q♠J♣ on a J♦6♦7♦ flop. The turn was another diamond and I was heads-up with one of the regulars I’ve played with in seat 6 who kept raising and I kept calling. I didn’t have a diamond, my hand didn’t improve, and if he had just a single diamond he was better than my jacks. I was all-in by after the river and he did have just one diamond: A♦.

I re-buy, even though I intended not to, and get Ax2x on the next hand. By the river, the board is 5x7xQx7xAx and I’ve been calling his bets again. I know he’s got an ace; the best I can hope for is a chop; there’s about a 25% chance he’s got a 7x, Qx, Kx, or Ax, in which case I’m beat. I go all-in, hoping for the other 75%, but he shows down AxKx and I’m out after literally five hands.

15 minutes. -100% ROI (including buy-in and re-buy).

Encore Club Special Limit H.O.R.S.E Tournament (5,000 chips)

I’d been looking forward to one of these events ever since I’d first heard about them a little over a month ago. I thought it would be a good chance to stretch beyond Hold’em into other potential events, should I get the opportunity. Maybe not. There was the inevitable older guy at the table who played the confused card about the betting structures but who inexplicably was exceptionally good at Razz. I never even made it to ‘S’, as I ran into his three very low hole cards disguised by high up cards. I was the first player out.

70 minutes. First of eight players out. -100% ROI (including buy-in and add-on).